Filmmaker Arrested At California College For Asking Questions About Katie Couric

WorldNetDaily reports that filmmaker John Zeigler was arrested at the University of Southern California campus after he tried ask questions about Katie Couric; she was there to receive the Cronkite award for her role in getting Obama elected as U.S. President 44.

Questions about Couric get filmmaker cuffed

The producer of the film “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected” was handcuffed and thrown off the campus of the University of Southern California for asking questions outside the hall where network anchor Katie Couric was to receive an award for her role in the presidential campaign.

Zeigler is not unfamiliar with the Couric’s work, having made a documentary that highlighted the news anchor’s interviews with GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin.

It was for those interviews that Couric was given the award.

In a video created by Orange County Films and posted on breitbart.tv, Zeigler is shown asking questions about the award. He then is seen challenging police who accuse him of blocking access to the building. Finally, after being told that he is not qualified as “media” and in trouble because he did not stay where “media” members were supposed to be, he is escorted off campus.

In the interim, he was handcuffed tightly enough to leave deep marks on his wrist.

According to a statement from the film company, Ziegler wanted to ask questions about Couric and give away copies of his film. But, the company’s report said, he “was literally prevented from doing so.”

Filmmaker John Zeigler talking with police

“He did not go there hoping for or expecting any sort of confrontation, especially with law enforcement. He was simply shocked and horrified by what happened there, as should every freedom loving American. He did absolutely nothing wrong and was handcuffed, detained and literally abused by law enforcement at the event,” the company said.

“The video speaks for itself,” the company said.

“I’m not allowed, authorized to give a comment,” said Alex Boukelheide, a spokesman at the Annenberg center, when contacted by WND.

He referred callers to James Grant, a university spokesman, who insisted on having questions submitted by e-mail, which WND did. There was no further response.

“You can cut the irony with a knife here,” Zeigler said while being confronted by security officers.

The officers told him he could not be there because he was not there for a “legitimate purpose,” such as going to class or attending an event.

Officers handcuffing filmmaker for asking questions on a University of Southern California sidewalk

“I’m now being handcuffed for standing on a sidewalk asking questions,” he said. “Asking questions about an awards ceremony on journalism excellence. You can’t get more ironic than this.”

At one point in the video, several unidentified suited men are standing near the entrance to the building, and Zeigler shouts to them. “This is what journalism has become! This says it all right here!”

“I’m every bit as much a journalist as Katie Couric is,” he said. “I’m not a protester.”

While he is being physically detained in handcuffs with officers at each arm, he notes that he’s now seven feet from where he was arrested.

“Over there, breaking the law. Over here, not breaking the law,” he said, and as the camera pans around in a circle to reveal virtually empty sidewalks, streets and yards, he suggests, “You can see there’s a lot of people here that I’m blocking the path, causing quite a bit of commotion.”

The officers later tell him he’s in trouble because he’s not official media and then tell him he’s in trouble because he wouldn’t stay where the media was designated to stay.

Another official, whose face was not revealed, tells Zeigler that the campus is private property.

According to a school website article by Kirstin Heinle, Couric “made the trip to Los Angeles, taking time from her position as anchor and managing editor for the CBS Evening News to accept her award for ‘Special Achievement for National Impact on the 2008 Campaign.'”

The writer said Couric was honored for “her interviews with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.”

“At the podium, Couric told the audience she went to great lengths to be unbiased in her interviews, focusing on every facial expression and body position,” Heinle wrote.

“My goal was to be a conduit, to allow her a chance to express her issues and let the viewers decide for themselves,” Couric said, according to the report.

Zeigler previously released “Blocking ‘The Path to 9/11,'” which documented ABC’s editing of a television series about the U.S. government’s mistakes prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

On the Breitbart.tv site, some forum participants supported him: “Mr. Zeigler has now been declared a ‘right-wing extremist,’ and has been added to our database of potential terrorists. He has also been red-flagged, and may receive a visit from the I.R.S. later this year,” said one with irony. “Have a nice day John.”

“WOW, this is not what this age 68-year-old Navy veteran expects to see on a college campus at USC. Obviously a guy in a gray suit with a mic is threatening to California journal(ism) education. Handcuffs and physical torture by police is what my grandchildren can expect on a campus…!” said another.

Another was more critical of Zeigler’s actions, labeling them disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. The writer’s solution? “Haul this dope off to the lockup, keep him there as long as you can, and smash the camera.”

Still another lambasted Couric herself, not addressing the police actions or Zeigler’s behavior.